Torres - Defending the Indefensible?

[BlueLion. 21,491]

After his latest entry into a catalogue of embarrassing misses, defending Fernando Torres has become even harder.

In fairness, you would be one mean bastard to begrudge the Spaniard based upon his efforts. His tireless team ethic, epitomised by his tracking back on Saturday against Norwich to win the ball back from the marauding Grant Holt, and his obvious enthusiasm for the game remains, and the occasional glimpse of his undeniable talent is enough for most Chelsea fans to extend their patience just a little bit further.

A moment of brilliance – or, rather a nearly-moment – against Sunderland summed up his time at Stamford Bridge. The ability of the Spaniard has rarely been questioned, and his acrobatics which led to Frank Lampard’s winning goal against the Black Cats led to congratulations from his team-mates and praise from the media, as if it had been he who had opened the scoring and brought his 14-game goal drought to a close.

Again, against Norwich, he so nearly did what the club forked out £50 million for – he so nearly produced a match-winning moment. The surprise element of his cheeky curling effort in the first half nearly caught John Ruddy out, but the goalkeeper sprung to his side brilliantly and managed to claw the ball around the post when it looked as if it would just evade his outstretched arm.

Instead, those moments serve only to underline the luckless nature of Torres’ stay in West London so far. There were doubts over his form and fitness even before his protracted switch from Liverpool, and it took him an incredible 14 games to net his first goal for the Blues - yet the Chelsea faithful showed admirable patience towards el Nino. Four goals in six games in the Autumn suggested that the Spaniard had finally rediscovered his goalscoring touch, but sandwiched in between those glorious moments was an astonishing miss in front of the Stretford End and a straight red card against Swansea for a dangerous lunge. Even so, the optimism remained that Fernando would inspire his side to silverware.

Fourteen games later, and that patience has yet to be repaid. Anonymous appearances papered over by the odd showing of talent has done little to deflect the criticism aimed at the Spaniard from all corners. Even Chelsea supporters are turning against a man they have had a grudging respect for during his tenure at Liverpool, and shown more-than-generous good grace towards since.

That aforesaid patience has seemingly worn out, compounded by a miss that has cost his side two points on a weekend where the Blues could have asserted their credentials for a Champions League berth next term thanks to defeats for Tottenham, Arsenal, Newcastle and Liverpool.

It wasn’t a bad miss. It was a horrendous miss. Eight yards out with a clean sight of goal, Fernando opted to take a touch. Then another. Then, with defenders bearing down on him, he hopelessly poked a foot wide of the target. You can’t help but feel a Torres in red would have hammered the ball home with aplomb without even thinking about it.

His industry is to be commended and as his manager has quite rightly pointed out, Torres had done a good job for the team in recent weeks – but all that counts for nothing when moments like that come along.

It is difficult to cast aside the argument that he is not scoring enough goals when he is missing opportunities like that. Guilt-edged chances have come few and far between for Fernando during his spell at Chelsea, and in fairness, that is largely not down to his own fault. It is well-documented that the Blues lack the necessary attacking spark that Torres thrives upon. At Liverpool, the creativity of the likes of Alonso and Gerrard gave him the necessary supply of ammunition. Torres would duly do the rest with a combination of pace and skill, of elegance and power.

In Liverpool red, Torres can only be seen to be smiling and celebrating. His spell in the blue of his current employees is summed up by a quick Google Images search of the man, which offers countless pictures of him with his head buried in his hands. It would seem even el Nino cannot believe the run he is currently on.

As it has already been addressed, Torres simply does not have the supply. In Juan Mata he has a single source of genius, but besides his diminutive countryman, Fernando has little help from elsewhere. Frank Lampard and forward-cum-winger Daniel Sturridge are naturally quite selfish players, whilst Raul Meireles and Ramires find themselves in shooting space on so few occasions that they can’t be blamed for going alone.

It would take a staunch advocate of the Spaniard to say that Torres does anything to help himself. Instead of fighting for his place, he has allowed the ego of Didier Drogba to brush him aside – he has allowed the Ivorian the psychological advantage. So often he has done nothing but cut a frustrated figure; his lack of effort and determination infuriating even the most ardent of Chelsea fans. Every now and again he does something brilliant, but that is too poor a return for a £50 million investment. Shevchenko and even Kezman showed industry!

What must be considered also is that Andre Villas-Boas has hardly helped Torres. His first six months was always going to be overshadowed by the pressures of moving from a club with a certain style of play to another. The transition from city to city will surely have affected him on a personal level as well. But with a solid pre-season behind him and an encouraging performance against Stoke at the start of the season, as well as an assist here and there, Villas-Boas wrecked his confidence by hauling him off time and time again, just when it looked like he might do something; just when you felt the magic was a moment away.

When he finally found his shooting boots, one poor performance was enough to see him benched and ultimately replaced by Drogba. His already fragile self-belief had been destroyed, and playing as a striker – a position that demands the currency of confidence – Torres became the proverbial rabbit in headlights. A string of games would surely have seen a gradual improvement; instead he was left to mope on the bench instead.

Villas-Boas’ poor management of Torres has done little to detract criticism from the Spaniard, but one can argue that Torres is simply a square peg for a round hole. He doesn’t fit the Chelsea way; not with this team. He was a last-minute panic-buy and was signed with little tactical consideration. There is no genuine supply from out wide, as Sturridge and Mata like to tuck inside. Neither is there support from the midfield, with moments of inspiration from the likes of Meireles and Lampard as common as a quiet, insignificant day in the life of Mario Balotelli.

It has now reached the stage where an either-or conclusion has been reached. Villas-Boas must now either cut his losses and look for a striker to fit the Chelsea system, or he must re-mould his team around the World Cup winner. At Liverpool, Torres was the star man. Stalwarts Carragher and Gerrard were fans’ favourites, but there could be no denying that el Nino was the true game-changer. With all respect to the Merseysiders, at Chelsea Torres is simply another superstar of the game, constantly living under the shadow of the indomitable Didier Drogba.

Catering the team to suit Torres would be a pricy endeavour for Villas-Boas. But you do not spend £50 million on a player and leave him on the bench. Torres needs support, either in the form of a second striker, or simply having more creativity around him. Some genuine width would do well to supply that, as at Liverpool, Torres was always able to exploit the space created by the selfless Dirk Kuyt, or he would latch on to an Alonso through-ball.

At Chelsea, he has none of this. Genuine widemen are needed, and this is something Chelsea totally lack. Juan Mata is no winger, he is simply a central playmaker who can do an adequate job out on the flank. Similarly, Florent Malouda and Daniel Sturridge are too selfish for a berth out wide. The pace of Salomon Kalou would perhaps be the best option, but his inconsistency means he can at best be a short-term option.

January is the time for plugging the leaks, not buying a new boat, and Villas-Boas knows he will be able to bring in one more acquisition at the most. It is highly unlikely that one player would be able to improve the supply to Fernando – it is even less likely that Chelsea fans will be backing the Spaniard by the time the summer window opens, anyhow…

That means more time must be expended watching Torres toil away in such a matter one can only feel sympathy for him. The man has simply had no luck during his 12 months in London, but luck is only what you make of it, and Torres is doing very little to make anything happen whatsoever.

Do not be fooled by his number of assists and his workrate for the team - Torres is a striker. Not a centre-forward like Drogba. As a striker, his role is to score goals. A striker does not fit into the Chelsea system, whereas a centre-forward does, acting as the pivot-point that places more emphasis on functionality than creativity. Nevertheless, by nature, Torres is a goalscorer, and that is what he is paid to do. A lack of a goalscoring return therefore can only be met with frustration and disillusionment by the Chelsea fans who have so patiently and openly backed a player that hardly ever embodies passion and commitment. Maybe that is why Drogba and Lampard can be forgiven for their spells without goals, and Torres cannot?

By the time the season concludes and the transfer market re-opens, Villas-Boas will have a simple choice – spend, and spend massively, to create a new team based around the spine of Cech-Luiz-Mata-Torres; one that will sufficiently cater for the Spaniard’s needs.

Alternatively he can cut his losses and go and buy the type of industrious striker that Didier Drogba is; one that relies on strength and physicality and can hold the ball up, thus opening up a more direct style of play which could add to the side’s collective threat. To some extent, Andre has already tried adapting his system into one that plays a more incisive style of football and therefore benefit el Nino, rather than the long-ball tactic that suits Drogba. The difficult thing for Torres is that Drogba is just as productive with the ball into feet as he is in the air…

Chelsea are no longer a super-club; players will go for where the money is, or where there are great footballing ‘projects’. Real Madrid and Manchester City fall into both those categories, whilst the remainder of the European football elite – Milan, Inter, Bayern, Manchester United and company – remain attractive destinations because of their winning past. Similarly, clubs like Tottenham and Napoli are building sides for the future, and these clubs also pose attractive alternatives. Then there is the ultimate ambition of playing for Barcelona.

Chelsea still have financial pulling-power, but that is limited both in comparison to the likes of City, and by the financial fair-play rules. With Champions League football and domestic success no longer a guarantee for the West London outfit, luring big-name players will be difficult for the club without massively over-spending.

That leaves the other option of Villas-Boas trying to recover as much of the fortune forked out by Abramovich almost a year ago.

In the end, therefore, it is a simple scenario for the Portuguese manager as he looks to solve the Torres conundrum. Look to restructure, or look for resale value. The complicated bit is this: at this current moment in time, neither of those outcomes looks a possibility...

[Melanicus 5,208]

Nice, as always.

[DDA 9,570]

Bravo!

[francozola 2,040]

Excellent article. Two things...

1) I completely agree with your point that he cost us two points at the weekend. I said the same thing in the Torres thread and got blasted. Someone asked whether I blame Ramires for costing us two points against Spurs a month back when he should have buried that header and my answer is yes, I do. It's not just me being harsh on Torres by blaming the draw on him. But it was such a pathetic joke of a miss. If players miss half-chances, that's another story. But to miss a chance like he had, no fucking excuses! come on!

2) I think you are being a little harsh on AVB. Yes, I agree that he has subbed Torres off a little too early sometimes, but to say he did it "just when you felt the magic was a moment away" is untrue imo. It's not as if Torres was getting (and creating for himself) 5 or more chances every match. He has hardly been having one or maybe two really good chances in each game this season. And his first touch and ball control has been average in most games as well. He's only had 2 or 3 games where he's been anywhere near as good as his Liverpool days in terms of those abilities. I also think AVB did a lot of right things in terms of managing Torres in the beginning of the season, where he made it clear to Torres that he was going to make him the 1st choice striker at the club. He tried to ease the media pressure on Torres as well.

Torres was suspended against Bolton, Everton & QPR because of his own stupidity.. He started against Arsenal and Blackburn but was abysmal in the former and average in the latter. He was also abysmal against Liverpool in the league. Drogba started against Wolves and played very well in that game. Then came the "most important period of AVB's future" in the eyes of the media which was the three games against Newcastle, Valencia and City. Drogba started against Newcastle, scored a good goal and had a decent game. He was superb against Valencia. Nothing great against City but not horrific either. So I can understand why Drogba was favoured during that run of games.

I was extremely supportive of him at the beginning of the season and during that little run of 4 goals in 6 that Alex mentioned above, but it's been going on for so long now and I see no improvement in terms of his confidence. It's just too much work having him in our team imo. Sorry for being a little harsh but I want him to leave. I want us to let both Drogba and Torres go in the summer and start anew.

Also: "but luck is only what you make of it, and Torres is doing very little to make anything happen whatsoever" YES. THANK YOU.

[Rubber bullets 1,183]

Can I ask you a question? If we were to right now, spend a lot of money on another striker (like Higuain or Cavani, or promote Lukaku or Sturridge to centre forward) and played him in the same team that Torres has worked with. Apart from the sitters that Torres has missed, would they be scoring regularly?

Becuase apart from Torres' confidence, the other main problem in my opinion is that our squad is so shit and plays some of the most slow, boring and uncreative football which is exactly what a striker needs.

[Sheva. 5,373]

Can I ask you a question? If we were to right now, spend a lot of money on another striker (like Higuain or Cavani, or promote Lukaku or Sturridge to centre forward) and played him in the same team that Torres has worked with. Apart from the sitters that Torres has missed, would they be scoring regularly?

Becuase apart from Torres' confidence, the other main problem in my opinion is that our squad is so shit and plays some of the most slow, boring and uncreative football which is exactly what a striker needs.

Agree with this. I watch Real Madrid every week nowadays and Higuain is not the type of player who makes chances for himself, he gets great passes from the likes of Ozil, Di maria and Ronaldo.

As for Torres, i'm willing to give him a chance till the end of the season. IMO he's been playing well, just has to work on finishing the very little chances he gets.

[LDN Blue 7,903]

the other main problem in my opinion is that our squad is so shit and plays some of the most slow, boring and uncreative football which is exactly what a striker needs.

Most definitely!

Remember when Torres said Chelsea have a midfield which is slow & whatever it was, even if he was misquoted he was bang on target (for once ). Mata is the only player who's quick enough and intelligent enough to open up space and provide for his fellow countryman. Lampard's not the same guy that used to give Drogba the passes that he in turn fired home.

It's not a Torres defence this, far from it, it's a simple case of "If you want a striker to score, pass him the ball"

[tmessy 139]

Can I ask you a question? If we were to right now, spend a lot of money on another striker (like Higuain or Cavani, or promote Lukaku or Sturridge to centre forward) and played him in the same team that Torres has worked with. Apart from the sitters that Torres has missed, would they be scoring regularly?

Becuase apart from Torres' confidence, the other main problem in my opinion is that our squad is so shit and plays some of the most slow, boring and uncreative football which is exactly what a striker needs.

completely agree...

at times its hard to even watch...

and its a sad truth to say that torres is the only lively man (apart from luiz) on our squad at the moment and the reason it is sad because he is in such bad goal scoring form that kills our team...

i am a huge torres fan but an even bigger chelsea fan and i would hate to see torres to go because of this... because our team isnt firing...

and that must be rough on the man...

everyone is so quick to blame him for our loss, but last time i remember he was the only one who actually had opportunities to score...

if we were to bring in another striker, i would love to see him PARTNER up with torres, none of this "which striker is in form plays" BS that has been happening this year...

no creativity on our side... and look at nando, he pulled a cheeky shot in the first half i believe that most of us when he struck it were like "WTF were you thinking?!" then when we saw how clever and how awkward it put the keeper in, we couldnt help to second guess our initial action...

im not saying give him a run of games then he'll come good, cause idk if that is the case...

he is getting no help, and not all in the creativity side, the TEAM side...

[Las7 951]

"Can I ask you a question? If we were to right now, spend a lot of money on another striker (like Higuain or Cavani, or promote Lukaku or Sturridge to centre forward) and played him in the same team that Torres has worked with. Apart from the sitters that Torres has missed, would they be scoring regularly?"

Actually Sturridge has created plenty of chances for himself using speed and trickery - sadly from the right wing it's a bit obvious what he would try to do. So defenders block his capability to cut in and move the ball to his left, thus he ends up shooting with his much weaker right foot.

Lukaku we have seen very little off in a central position and we cannot make a judgement what kind of impact a prolong run in the team would enable him to do.

Sadly we have no options for the right wing, so it's very difficult envisioning moving Sturridge into a position which will enable him to have more options.

I don't want us to change our entire first 11 to make the best use of Torres, players who are World Class shouldn't need such a treatment - if a guy like Torres doesn't fit in move on don't abandon our whole approach to the game. Watching Liverpool play with Torres was dour, sure he scored a lot of goals but they were a counter attacking team - no team in the EPL would try to out possess and play high up against us. Besides I have my doubts regarding how close to his Liverpool form Torres can get. I don't think he is as quick and his first touch right now is woeful.

[Peace. 4,352]

When I read some posts defending Torres, I get the feeling it is impossible to score while being a Chelsea player.

So, I wonder some things... How Sturridge did - while being isolated on the right wing, which isn't his position - to score 10 goals ? How Lampard did - who is a midfielder and out of form since the start of the season - to score 11 goals ? How Ramires did - who is a midfielder and well known to have a poor finishing - to score 8 goals ? How Drogba did to score 6 goals ? How Juan Mata did to score 6 goals ? How Terry did to score as many goal as Torres this season while he is a defender ?

Our team lacks dramatically of creativity, this is a fact and I am one of the first to say that. This excuse is getting old. If he didn't have two left feet, then he would have at least 8 goals this season,and the question "do we have to cut our losses in the summer" certainly wouldn't have been raised.

Oh, and his horrendous first touch isn't due because the Ugly Malouda is playing.

[zolayes 14,489]

pleased to see their is support for Torres. For once I was disappointed to see BLs headline .

atm Torres is our best option , Danny is not ready to lead the line in every game> I have advocated he should be given chances at that.

But I feel he is not ready to take that responsibility all the time. Lukaku patently isnt ready but I do have hopes from him.

As far as Drog is concerned ,,Im saddened to say my patience is exhausted ,,wish we could sell him NOW and get a few millions at least

[LDN Blue 7,903]

When I read some posts defending Torres, I get the feeling it is impossible to score while being a Chelsea player.

So, I wonder some things... How Sturridge did - while being isolated on the right wing, which isn't his position - to score 10 goals ? How Lampard did - who is a midfielder and out of form since the start of the season - to score 11 goals ? How Ramires did - who is a midfielder and well known to have a poor finishing - to score 8 goals ? How Drogba did to score 6 goals ? How Juan Mata did to score 6 goals ? How Terry did to score as many goal as Torres this season while he is a defender ?

Our team lacks dramatically of creativity, this is a fact and I am one of the first to say that. This excuse is getting old. If he didn't have two left feet, then he would have at least 8 goals this season,and the question "do we have to cut our losses in the summer" certainly wouldn't have been raised.

Oh, and his horrendous first touch isn't due because the Ugly Malouda is playing.

This is true, and I don't dispute the crockness of Torres but Sam's point is right.

Even if we were to buy Higuain, Cavani, Pato etc, they'd all suffer from a poor lack of service. They would put away these easy chances that Tosser misses (we..hope) but they wouldn't get so many chances.

We have Lukaku, let's gamble on not buy a striker now and getting a few playmakers.

[Rubber bullets 1,183]

This is true, and I don't dispute the crockness of Torres but Sam's point is right.

Even if we were to buy Higuain, Cavani, Pato etc, they'd all suffer from a poor lack of service. They would put away these easy chances that Tosser misses (we..hope) but they wouldn't get so many chances.

We have Lukaku, let's gamble on not buy a striker now and getting a few playmakers.

Also, I would like to add that we have for many years we have been using 4-3-3. But its been a bit unique as it has been built on Drogba holding the ball against 2 centre backs and Lampard slipping in to score, and to an extent we still try and play like that, even when Drogba and Lampard are not even on the pitch. For most strikers to work in a 4-3-3 they need quality service, with midfielders playinng a good tempo and wingers stretching the defence becuase the striker will constantly be monitered by two centre backs. The reason Sturridge has scored 11 goals is becuase he plays out wide and only gets marked by one full back most of the time and he can use his pace to beat him and get a chance on goal. Torres does not have the luxary of only having one man marking him, and certainly not all the time. Not to mention that Sturridge hardley ever tries to pass it to anyone in the box even though its obviously the only option and what wingers are suppose to do. Same thing with Lampard to an extent, he only has one player marking him, if he breaks free from that then he is free to go against the defence unnoticed most of the time, for example the winner against Wolves. And lets not forget 2 of his goals camee from penalties and one came by pure luck. And Drogba, who is playing in a system that is more tailered to him, has scored only two more goals, one being a penalty.

I don't want to come across as some kind of Torres fanboy, I'm just pointing out that in most 4-3-3s the strikers need service. If you can't provide him service, change it to a system with two strikers, where you may hae something where both can feed off each other.

[Las7 951]

Sturridge scores, because he can beat players with speed and trickery and has natural instincts to get into positions that enable him to score. Most of his goals have been tap ins from a central position after a good cross. The other main reason why Sturridge is more lethal is the fact that he plays with confidence whether he is playing badly or well, I don't think he dwells too much on the past.

Like the Lampard goal against Wolves a few weeks ago, Lampard played the ball to Torres and continued the run, while Torres played A.Cole but stood still afterwards instead of also following the combination into the box and getting into a goal scoring position. That reminds me of Berbatov during his first year at MU, but back then Berbatov was playing in a second striker position rather than being asked to lead the line and he was never known as simply a clinical striker.

[diskoviolente 425]

Afterall it is a very sad story about such an amazing talent.

I genuinly feel for Torres. He came in, with high hopes for himself, the fans had high hopes.

Leaving all the technical details aside for one moment, it is just pure sadness looking at Nando and thinking what he once did to defenders, nah, whole teams.

I so hope that he can find his form.

He bloody has to.

[manpe 10,855]

Not sure how you can fit 'magic' and 'Torres' in the same sentence. Well, actually his misses have been unbelievable - just like magic.. In that sense, I agree.

[Naked Mole Rat 437]

If service to Torres was twice as good, he'd score twice as many goals, which is still like nothing.

[Laylabelle 9,292]

Its not just the service....he's had several open goal chances and somehow god knows how has messed even them ones up! No luck and zero confidence

He just takes steps forwards...starts scoring...then steps backwards pretty quickly! You get a glimpse of the old Torres and then bam its gone!

Was never gana work out soon as the 50m price tag came along you knew its was gana be a bad bad move...whatever reason it just never worked

And the annoying thing is it seemed Jose wanted him...back when he was good and then instead ended up with Sheva and he went to Liverpool...and then years later we end up with him.About double what someone was unwilling to pay!

Shame..

Edited January 23, 2012 by Laylabelle